Ayrshire Scotland Business News is provided by the Elite Ayrshire Business Circle, an association of some of the top companies in Ayrshire. We publicise our members, and celebrate and report the wealth and rich diversity of entrepreneurial and business excellence that abounds here in Ayrshire, south-west Scotland. For further information e-mail Murdoch@eliteayrshire.com

The Elite Ayrshire Business Circle

Friday, 4 October 2013

Effects already being felt with a year to go until tournament tees off

The effects of the 2014 Ryder Cup are already being felt in Scotland and the legacy will continue long after the last putt has been sunk, First Minister Alex Salmond said recently as he marked a year-to-go until the greatest golf tournament in the world tees off at Gleneagles.

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And young golfers of the future are foremost in benefiting thanks to funding from this golden legacy which will see almost half a million Primary Five school children take part in the hugely successful ClubGolf sports initiative by 2018.

The First Minister said: “While there will be many immediate benefits from staging this magnificent sporting occasion, there will also be the long-term effects from this golden legacy which will ensure the popularity of golf continues to grow and young talent will be nurtured.

“The combination of staging the world’s best tournament and our initiative to put a club in the hand of every nine-year-old in Scotland can only mean continued success for the sport.”

The First Minister pointed out that areas such as golf development, professional sport, and tourism are also benefitting from the Ryder Cup, with plans well progressed to create a lasting legacy for golf in this country.

Mr Salmond outlined the increased investment in professional golf events in Scotland since Gleneagles was awarded the event, with £6.8 million in additional tournament spending supporting 49 professional events since 2003. That figure will reach 55 when the Ryder Cup begins, with legacy investment on professional golf to continue until 2018.

Recently the Scottish Government announced continuing support for the hugely successful Scottish Open which brings significant benefits to the whole of Scotland, both in terms of tourism and television exposure, while also providing a multi-million pound boost to the economy.

The unprecedented rush for tickets for the event, with applications for the Gleneagles tournament up 38 per cent on the number experienced by Celtic Manor, were “creating an incredible buzz in Scotland’s tourist industry with just a year to go”, he said.

“The excitement around the Ryder Cup at Gleneagles is building up a real head of steam as we enter the final 12 months before the tournament tees off, and I was absolutely thrilled to welcome Tom Watson and Paul McGinley to Scotland to help them celebrate this fantastic milestone aboard this wonderful train.

“The Ryder Cup is one of the top sporting events on the planet, and I am in no doubt that the 2014 tournament – being held at the Home of Golf for the first time in more than 40 years - will be a fabulous advert for the sport enjoyed by millions across the globe.

“But the Ryder Cup will be about more than the sporting action we will see during that week. Staging the event will bring a real and lasting legacy to Scotland, in terms of sport development, infrastructure, economic investment and tourism, with thousands of fans brought to Perthshire to see first-hand the beauty of our country and the warmth of our welcome.

“These benefits are already being felt, with the Ryder Cup legacy securing the funding of our hugely successful ClubGolf programme through to 2018, allowing thousands more to benefit from an initiative that has so far engaged nearly 300,000 young people.

“We have also increased investment in professional golf, with £6.8 million in legacy funding already having supported 49 professional events since 2003, helping Scotland build a world-class portfolio of tournaments in a move that can only help bring through the next generation of Scottish talent.

“And the recent rush for tickets, with demand up 38 per cent on that seen ahead of the 2010 event at Celtic Manor, is a real shot in the arm for Scottish tourism, with 250,000 spectators expected at Gleneagles during the week from around 75 countries.

“The event will also bring business opportunities for Scottish firms winning event contracts, as well as improvements to local infrastructure, such as the work being done at Gleneagles Station. Thousands of volunteers will get the opportunity to work at a major global event and a host of official charities, including some from the local area will benefit from fundraising events held in the run up to the event.

“This varied, exciting legacy will be felt throughout Scotland long after the winning putt is sunk and the famous trophy is held aloft by the victorious captain at Gleneagles next year.”

THE EDITORThe Editor of Ayrshire Scotland Business News is Murdoch MacDonald, a graduate of Magdalene College, Cambridge University, where his journalistic contemporaries included John Simpson, now World Affairs Editor with the BBC, and Alan Rusbridger, Editor of the Guardian. Murdoch MacDonald has been in the public relations industry and a freelance journalist and broadcaster for more than 35 years.He has handled the PR accounts of many top Scottish companies, including Royal Bank of Scotland, Standard Life, John Menzies, Kwik-Fit and Barratt Homes.

He has hosted his own family finance programmes - "£s, Pence and Sense" on Radio Forth and "Moneywise" on Scottish Television.He now runs Ayrshire’s top PR consultancy Fame Publicity Services.

Wherever you are in the world, no other public relations consultancy, PR firm or publicity company can offer you a better or more cost-effective worldwide news distribution service, combined with search engine optimisation techniques that will drive customers and qualified sales leads to your company's website.

Murdoch MacDonald is also managing director of the Elite Ayrshire Business Circle, an association of some of the top companies in Ayrshire.Telephone: 01292 281498E-mail: Murdoch@eliteayrshire.com

Murdoch and his wife Lilian (pictured above) have written a book called "Phoenix in a Bottle", describing how they overcame alcoholism and are now, contrary to conventional wisdom, able to drink alcohol responsibly again. "Phoenix in a Bottle" is published by Melrose Books price £16.99 and is now available worldwide.Reviewing the book, eminent American addiction expert Dr Stanton Peele PhD commented:

“Phoenix in a Bottle is a modern version of The Days of Wine and Roses, and tells the true story of how two people who entered a period of desperate drinking stayed with one another in a close loving relationship, and emerged from their alcoholism able to drink responsibly again.

“Both a wonderful love story and a challenge to conventional wisdom about how people can recover from drinking problems, Phoenix in a Bottle gives people hope, and helps them to confront their own demons - alcohol or otherwise.”

And now "Phoenix in a Bottle" has been selected as a set text by a top American university.

“Phoenix in a Bottle” by Lilian and Murdoch MacDonald will now be required reading for all doctoral students in a psychology programme at Alliant International University in San Diego, California.

Alliant International University, headquartered in San Diego and San Francisco, California, was formed in 2001 by the merger of the California School of Professional Psychology (CSPP) and the United States International University. Alliant has 6 campuses throughout California and also runs programmes in Mexico City, Hong Kong and Tokyo. The California School of Professional Psychology at Alliant is one of the premier psychology schools in the US, and it counts roughly half the licensed clinical psychologists in California as its alumni.

Dr. Gary W. Lawson is Professor of Psychology at CSPP. He says: “I adopted Phoenix in a Bottle because the dilemma this couple struggled with and the questions they ask themselves are like so many others I have encountered in 35 years of clinical experience treating addictions.“However, nowhere in addiction literature have I seen these issues examined and explained as well as Lilian and Murdoch do in Phoenix in a Bottle.“I also recommend Phoenix in a Bottle to many of my patients as well.”

You can buy "Phoenix in a Bottle" by Lilian and Murdoch MacDonald online now direct from Amazon UK (click on book cover image below).